Pouring spout container



Feb 25 1936. w. J. WARDELL 2,031,623

POURING SPOUT CONTAINER Filed April 24, 1935 INV TOR MAQ 4 W I ATTORNEY$Patented Feb. 25, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE POURING SPOUTCONTAINER William J. Wardell, Mount Vernon, N. Y., assignor to AmericanCan Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey ApplicationApril 24, 1935, Serial No. 18,032

4 Claims. (Cl. 221-19) The present invention relates to containerdisinvention will be apparent. as it is better underpensing, and hasparticular reference to a sealed stood from the following description,which, taken container or can for liquids which is provided inconnection with the accompanying drawing, with a pouring spout rotatablyconfined, in a discloses a preferred embodiment thereof.

simple and unique manner, in an end of the can, Referring to thedrawing: 5

the spout in one position being disposed within Figure 1 is aperspective View of a liquid can the rim of. the can and when moved intopouring embodying the present invention; position extending beyond thecan rim in the Fig.2 is an enlarged sectional plan view of one latterposition of which the can may be opened, corner of the can;

the spout unit. following a pouring action, being Fig. 3- is a similarview of the can corner as it 10 then adapted to be rotated backintonon-p-rojectappears when ready to receive the pouring spout ingposition where it functions as a reclosure for unit; the can. Fig. 4 isa sectional view taken through the cor- An object of the invention is.the provision of a ner of the can as indicated by the section line -5sealed liquid holding container or can having a 44 in Fig. 2, this viewbeing on an enlarged rotatable pouring spout unit which is rotatablyscale and showing the spout in non-pouring posiretained in a sunken seatformed in the panel of tion and the cansealed as it appears before it isanimperforate can end that is perforated to open opened; the can, theretaining means being flattened Fig. 5 is a View similar to Fig. 4showing the beaded sections struck out as integral parts of can afteropening with its spout in pouring posi- 20 the can end Wall which holdthe spout unit against tion and the liquid contents of the can beingdisdisplacement and at the same time allow for its pensed by way of thespout; and

free rotatable manipulation to cover andv uncover Fig. 6 is afragmentary perspective view' of the the perforations. can corner andspout during dispensing of the Another object of the invention is theprovision liquid contents. of the can. 25 of a liquid can of, thecharacter described wherein In the drawing there is disclosed as apreferred the can end is formed with a circular sunken or embodiment ofthe invention a rectangular can depressed seat outlined by a peripheralbead body ll (Fig. 1) preferably formed of metal and formed within thecan rim for the reception of provided with an imperforate bottom or endthe rotatable pouring spout unit, the latter being member l2 and animperforate top end member 30 retainedagainst displacement by flattenedsecl3. The ends I2 and I3 may be secured to the tions of the circularbead which overhang the body in the usual double seam as indicated atperipheral edge of the spout unit, selective posi- H (see also Fig. 4).tioning of the spout unit within its seat in the The top end [3 of thecan is of the usual sunken can endproviding for free dispensing of theliquid panel or drawn form required for double seaming 35 byway of thespout or for reclosing of the opened with a surrounding wall l5 at rightangles to a caJiweb wall 16. The web wall I6 is further slightly Yetanother object is the provision of a rectandepressed to form a circulardrainage sump I1 gular can having a circular sunken seat surthe floor ofwhich may take the form of a spheri- 40 rounded by spaced overhangingledges formed in cal Wall I8 (Figs. 2, 3 and 4). This sump ll 40 thepanel of one end adjacent the corner of the is preferably locatedadjacent one corner of the can in which is rotatably held a pouringspout can as this is the most desirable position for the unit formedwith a circular disc and a spout or spout unit as will be more evidentas the descriptrough section which extends laterally and at an tionproceeds.

angle to the body of the disc, the spout unit be- The spherical wall I8on the side adjacent the ing movable in one position to place its spoutincorner of the can is further reshaped or drawn side of the plane ofthe can end rim and in another as best shown in Figs. 3 and 4 to providea seat position to locate its spout across the corner of for therotatable spout member. An annular the can where it projects over thesurrounding peripheral bead I9 is formed as an integral part rim, thefirst position effecting a temporary closof the spherical wall l8 andencloses an inclined 5O ing of the can by sealing ofi perforations madein annular and flat wall section 2|.

the can end when the can is opened, the second Wall section 2! providesan outer boundary to position placing the parts for dispensing ofv the aspherical depression 22 (Fig. 3) which is 10- liquid contents throughthe spout section. cated centrally of the peripheral bead l9. It is .55Numerous other objects and advanta es. oi the the parts l9, 2| and 22that provide a seat 23 for the pouring spout unit of the can. Thedepression wall 22 is adapted to be perforated for discharging andventing purposes when the can is to be opened and, to insure properpositioning of the openings, the wall is formed with a scored star orsimilar location point 24 and a second or smaller star section 25.

The can top wall I6 before the spout unit is applied is formed as shownin Fig. 3, the annular bead l9 being smooth and uniform throughout itssectional area. In this condition it receives the pouring spout unit.The pouring spout unit comprises a disc part 3| and a spout section 32.

The disc part of the spout is formed as an annular flat wall 33 which isadapted to engage the wall 2| of the spout seat and in inserted positionthe peripheral edge of this wall is located just inside of the annularperipheral bead I9. The wall 33 is not continuous throughout its entirecircumference but merges at one side into the pouring spout section 32.

A central depression 34 is formed inside of the wall 33 and ispreferably shaped to frictionally engage the spherical depression 22 ofthe can top. The cooperating engagement between the spout unit and itsseat by reason of the incline of the wall parts 2|, 33 permits rotationof the spout unit within its seat from a closed position, as illustratedin Fig. 4 where the end of the spout section 32 is within the rim of thecan end formed by the double seam l4 and into an open position where thespout section 32 extends over the corner of the seam M as illustrated inFig. 5.

The spout unit is rotatably held within its seat by a. spaced flatteningof inner face sections of the peripheral head I!) which fiatteningsprovide lugs or overhanging ledges 36. These lugs are formed after thespout unit has been placed within its seat and are preferably equallyspaced around the inner periphery of the bead throughout a substantialpart thereof.

Lugs 36 are produced by a rebending of that portion of the bead wall andare made in suitable manner by a simple form of die. These lugs preventdisplacement of the spout unit from its seat while allowing for its easyrotation. The lugs hold the spherical parts 22, 34 and the flat wallparts 33, 2| in relatively close frictional engagement. This preventsspilling of the liquid contents after opening of the can. The depressedcenter 34 of the spout unit is provided with a dispensing opening 38 andwith a vent opening 39, which are cut through the wall at that place.

The spout unit 3| is in the position disclosed in Figs. 1 and 2 when afilled can is received by the ultimate consumer. The can is fully sealedand the openings 38, 39 of the spout are out of register with theindicated scored star elements 24, 25 formed in the can end.

When the liquid from the can is to be dispensed the can is first openedby rotating the spout unit within the seat to bring the spout part 32into the dotted line position shown in Fig, 2. The opening 38 is then inalignment with the scored star 24 and the opening 39 is similarlyaligned with the smaller star 25. The can is then opened by puncturingthe wall of the depression 22 by pressing a sharp instrument downthrough the scored stars 24, 25.

The metal of the wall 22 of the can end is thus pushed back to providepouring and venting perforations which, at the time these perforationsare made are in alignment with the openings 38, 39 formed in the spout.Fig. 5 illustrates how a discharge opening 4| would look when punched inthe can top. It is through this opening that the liquid, indicated bythe numeral 42, may be dispensed from the opened can. This is easilybrought about by a simple tilting of the can with the spout 32overhanging its corner as shown by the dotted line position of Fig. 2and the full line position of Fig. 5. At the same time the can is ventedby air passing into the can through the opening 39 and through theopening formed when the star 25 is punctured through.

By reason of the construction of the can end and its pouring spout unitonly the two parts are needed to provide a movable spout which functionswhen in one position to properly dispense the contents of the can andwhen turned into another position to close the openings made in the can.By reason of the lugs 36 formed in the peripheral bead IS a simpleoverhanging and spout retaining feature is incorporated which providesagainst displacement of the spout but the the same time allows for easymovement of rotation.

At the same time there is maintained a proper frictional engagementbetween the spoutunit and the top of the can which functions to preventleaking of the contents either during the dispensing of the liquidthrough the spout or after the can has been temporarily closed byturning the spout to shut ofi the openings.

It is thought that the invention and many of its attendant advantageswill be understood from the foregoing description, and it will beapparent that various changes may be made inthe form, construction andarrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the formhereinbefore described being merely a preferred embodiment thereof.

I claim:

1. A liquid container, comprising an imperforate end member having asunken panel surrounded by a rim, a depressed seat formed in said sunkenpanel and surrounded by an annular bead, and a rotatable pouring spoutunit located in said seat and confined within said annular bead, thelatter being flattened at spaced intervals to provide overhanging ledgesfor retaining the pouring spout unit in its rotatable position, thepouring spout of said unit being within the rim of said can end when theunit is in non-pouring position and being extended over said rim when inpouring position.

2. A liquid container, comprising an imperforate end member having asunken panel surrounded by a rim, a depressed seat formed in said sunkenpanel and surrounded by an annular bead, and a rotatable pouring spoutunit located in said seat with the peripheral edge of a disc sectioninside of said annular bead, the latter being flattened at spacedintervals to provide overhanging ledges for retaining said pouring spoutunit in its rotatable position, said unit also having a pouring spoutextending laterally from said disc section, said pouring spout unitbeing movable to position its pouring spout within the rim of said canend and in non-pouring position or to place the spout over said rim andin pouring position.

3. A liquid container, comprising an imperforate end member having asunken panel surrounded by a rim, a depressed seat formed in said sunkenpanel and surrounded by an annular bead, and a rotatable pouring spoutunit mounted i Said seat with the peripheral edge of a 75 disc sectionof the unit abutting said annular bead, the latter being flattened atspaced intervals to provide overhanging ledges for retaining saidpouring spout unit in its rotatable position, said spout unit alsohaving a pouring spout extending laterally from, its disc section, thelatter being out through with an opening adapted to register with anopening formed in the said end member at the time the can is opened andwhen said pouring spout is in pouring position where it extends abovesaid rim.

4. A liquid container, comprising a body, an imperforate end membersecured to said body and having a depressed seat surrounded by anannular bead, the wall of said seat being scored to indicate dischargeand vent openings which are adapted to be made in the seat when the canis perforated by pressing in the scored parts,

and a pouring spout unit mounted on said end member and rotatablydisposed in saidseat and having movement into pouring and non-pouringposition, said annular bead being flattened at spaced intervals toprovide overhanging ledges which engage confined parts of said spoutunit and retain it in its rotatable position, said spout unit having adischarge opening and a vent opening which are adapted to register, whenthe spout unit is in pouring position, with the said discharge and ventperforations made in the can end seat at the time the can is opened,said spout openings being movable out of register when the spout unit isin non-pouring position.

WILLIAM J. WARDELL.

